MP3Scene - Latest Articleshttps://mp3scene.info/articles/Latest articles on MP3 Sceneen-gbWed, 06 Aug 2014 19:20:04 +0100A Recap of the MP3 Scene, From the RIAA2013 Rulesethttp://www.mp3scene.info/articles/12/recap-mp3-scene-riaa2013-ruleset<img src="/media/img/riaa.gif" alt="RIAA">
The new RIAA Council (who have attempted to usurp the existing MP3 Council) issued a nice summary of the scene to date with the [2013 ruleset](http://scenerules.irc.gs/t.html?id=riaa2013.nfo):
--
Dear MP3 scene,
For much too long have we been looked down upon as being thoroughly
inconsistent alongside highly retarded in what are known as our releasing
standards. Now time as finally come for us to bid farewell to our collective
ruling inability and embrace what shall forever be known as the most brilliant
polished set of MP3 scene rules to ever see the day.
Consumerism evolves and so is the music industry. For the ones not knowing
already, the purpose of the scene is for us, taxpayers, to have a way of trying
before purchasing. Over the last decades digital assets expanded from
softwares up to all of the various formats currently in circulation.
The MP3 scene should always remain the prime source of previewing commercial
music but for it to happen we need to not fail to adapt with technology.
With that being said, it is with great honour (and after many many moons of
intensive work) that we are finally introducing the RIAA2013 AKA v4.0 which
is what the MP3 scene had been demanding for far too long ago.
To the many ignorant people out there who claim to know the scene, in our
infancy MP3 releases weren't packaged with SFVs nor did they contained a full
set of tracks. No, the first MP3 singles that terrorized PC speakers were
extracted at 1x and encoded with Fraunhofer at a breathtaking 112CBR. That
process would be taking the full work day for 1 full album to be digitalized.
Back then, releases didn't leave the group's HQ unless the demand for it was
very high.
Some people then decided it would be best to add a SFV and also upper the
encoding quality which sparked up the APC/RNS era. As the MP3 scene wasn't
so vast back then, major groups upgraded releasing standards by teaming up
together and work as "RIAA" in order to focus on music and the MP3 format.
In 1998, dupechecks were all issued on 1 central source. That source also
supported the work done by the RIAA alliance, therefore helping it to strive.
By then 160CBR was king and so were CDs alongside LAME v3.97. No doubt were we
in the golden age of the MP3 scene and when MP3 Council arrived on the scene to
release the much acclaimed v1.0 a couple of years later, the evolution of the
format kept on being made and positive changes applied collectively.
Some years later, that central dupechecking system got buried for good and a
lot of confusion then followed suit. With such a setback a lot of people got
scared touching anything and started embracing the feeling of numbness which is
still somewhat vastly inhabiting the whole MP3 scene up to this very day.
By then the golden age of MP3 was over and v3.0 was rushed out in order for
MP3 Council to keep their grasp on the rules and keep the scene calm and
orderly. But that didn't happened. That rule set was in fact the one that
received the most controversy ever alongside nobody had still bothered
to translate the full thing to English! Let's also mention that v3.0 failed
to bring any sense of needed, nor requested, changes. As the errors were
rolled out, again, all of the inconsistencies that plagued us were still very
well present. At that point most of the serious players knew MP3 Council had
failed us all quite miserably.
Over the courses of the next couple of months, many groups tried reopening
the rules for discussion and debating but it came to no avail. MP3 Council
just didn't cared anymore and FLAC was born out of the inability of MP3 Council
to apply any true changes.
After that, individuals who genuinely cared for the quality of MP3 finally
banded together and started rebuilding v3.0 from the ground up. For well
over 18 months, we have asked every group, actives and/or experienced, to
supply us with their feedbacks and ideas to improve the rules. For the first
time in several rules revision, most of the seasoned rippers have
over-challenged what was known as the suckiest set of rules in order to make
it shine like nobody could have, but music lovers!
At this point we encourage you to get used to our work as we're sure that
you will find them much more clearer, understandable and English than ever.
Also, RIAA2013 brings the sense of frenchness we have been needing for a while
now in our dear Underground.
Lastly, as we try not judging people living in caves, we will tolerate v3.0
compliant rips for 2 months after January 1st. And we are aware that even
though some signatures might be missing, that it still doesn't change anything
to the fact that this rule set is the most loved revision ever. Alongside
serious.
Enjoy RIAA2013 as it's now time to focus back on music and bring respect
back to .MP3!Wed, 06 Aug 2014 19:20:04 +0100http://www.mp3scene.info/articles/12/recap-mp3-scene-riaa2013-rulesetObservations From an Archivisthttp://www.mp3scene.info/articles/11/observations-from-an-archivistSince the inception of this site several years ago, we have become overly familiar with the idiosyncrasies of early scene releases. One particular observation is the disproportionate abundance of releases from 1999; far more than from 1998 and earlier.
Below is a breakdown of our release archive by years. It is also worth noting that many insignificant releases from 1999 have been intentionally excluded from our database in an attempt to somewhat 'curate' the content on offer. Without this filter, the number of releases from 1999 would be far greater.
**1996: 1 release (!)**
**1997: 49 releases**
**1998: 796 releases**
**1999: 3401 releases**
So what explains this disproportionality? The obvious answer would be that the older the release, the harder it is to acquire. This is absolutely true, but there are likely a variety of other factors at play that are worth considering.
1. 1999 saw the mp3 scene - and the wider warez scene - really explode. Faster internet speeds and cheaper storage space led to an increased demand for music (and other warez); it's no coincidence that Napster started the same year. More people involved in the scene meant more releases and more topsites, resulting in albums spreading further and increasing the likelihood that a specific release would remain on a hard drive for years to come. It also meant that a number of organised, dedicated mp3 archives surfaced (although very few are still online today).
2. Dupechecking for mp3's began in January 1999. Prior to that, there was little regulation and mp3's were very disparate. Thanks to MP3Check, releases were more 'permanent' and thus potentially more likely to be archived long-term.
3. The end of 1998 saw the introduction of [RIAA](/glossary/#riaa) rules, bringing long-needed regulation to mp3 scene releases. This resulted in higher-quality releases, often with a bitrate of 192kbps or higher. Releases from 1998 and earlier were generally encoded at 112-128kbps, far from acceptable by modern standards. However, 192kbps is still considered adequate by many, meaning these releases are less likely to be replaced.
4. Somewhat related to the above, release file naming became much more regulated in 1999. If we look at [file naming](/articles/6/mp3-release-standards-1996-to-1999/) from 1998 and earlier, we can see that there were many occasions where NFO files wouldn't even contain a group name, and some used alternative extensions (TXT, etc). This makes searching for them now particularly challenging, compared to newer files which generally contain the group name and year.
This is far from exhaustive, but offers a few theories to help explain the irregularity. As always, we welcome any submissions to help restore the balance. Please [get in touch](/about/contribute/) if you can help.Sat, 07 Sep 2013 15:17:33 +0100http://www.mp3scene.info/articles/11/observations-from-an-archivistSummer Updatehttp://www.mp3scene.info/articles/10/summer-updateThis week we're proud to announce a range of significant upgrades and additional features to MP3 Scene.
The most significant is the new [VIP scheme](/about/vip-scheme/). With this, we aim to reward the contribution of particularly rare files, incentivising the ongoing support of the site. In conjunction with the launch of the scheme, we have also added several new sections to the site that are accessible to VIP's only. We don't want to spoil what all of these are but one is the official MP3 Scene Wiki, which includes a vast array of information not visible on the public site. Rest assured, the other features will be of interest to those who currently enjoy the site. VIP membership will be awarded in 1/2 month periods, depending on the rarity of the submitted file. For the current 'hit list', take a look [here](/about/vip-scheme/). Happy hunting!
We have also upgraded the site-wide search, properly sorting results and adding pagination.
The [contact](/about/contact/) page now has a proper contact form, rather than just an email address. For sending attachments, please use mega.co.nz or similar and send us a link, or contact us for an email address to send to.
Thank you for your ongoing support, and - as always - please [get in touch](/about/contact/) if you are interested in contributing or if you find bugs with the site.Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:07:29 +0100http://www.mp3scene.info/articles/10/summer-updateMergers and Splits Within the MP3 Scene Part 1http://www.mp3scene.info/articles/8/mergers-and-splits-within-mp3-scene-part-1<a href="http://www.mp3scene.info/media/img/timeline.jpg"><img src="http://www.mp3scene.info/media/img/article_timeline.gif" alt="Timeline preview"></a>
Mergers and splits have always been commonplace within the warez scene; discontent members leaving one group to form another or release groups combining forces under a new name.
With the exponential increase of new release groups forming in 1998, keeping track of mergers/splits became a difficult job. As part of our ongoing archiving, we've been attempting to create an accurate document of these events in the form of a timeline.
This is still very much a work-in-progress and many minor groups are still missing, but think of this as a preview of the full document. Click the image above to see the full-size timeline.
As ever, we welcome any feedback such as omissions or errors, please [click here](/contact/) to contact us.Sun, 02 Sep 2012 12:08:27 +0100http://www.mp3scene.info/articles/8/mergers-and-splits-within-mp3-scene-part-1The New MP3Scenehttp://www.mp3scene.info/articles/7/new-mp3sceneA year and a half after first launching MP3Scene we are extremely proud to present version 2 of the site.
We had a tremendous first year, amassing an incredible archive of files, nfos, images and more, thanks to many contributors who have reached out to help our cause. When we first launched this site we were just a few friends scraping together files that we had collected over many years. We were forced to make certain compromises in order to launch, sacrificing features that we would have liked to include. Within a year we had expanded our circle of friends, including talented programmers. This enabled us to make a start on the new and improved version of MP3Scene, adding in features we wanted as well as those requested by the community.
Take a look around and you'll probably encounter many of the new features, but here is a summary of the main ones:
* **Design** - The essence of the original site has been retained, but tweaked in many places. We have a shiny new logo, have utilised space better in the right-hand column, split out the navigation, made the homepage more useful, among other things.
* **Site-wide search** - This was something we have wanted since launch, and gave us the most technical headaches. It's not perfect in its current form; we will be looking to improve the sorting of results and add pagination in the next few weeks.
* **Unknown release dates** - 0000-00-00, 1998-00-00, etc are now valid dates (previously we were forced to use 1998-01-01, due to a limitation in the system)
* **Original nfo filenames** - Many people requested this: previously we avoided duplicate filenames by hashing filenames, we now have a new solution that retains the exact filenames of nfos.
* **Improved releases search** - the last releases search box was far from perfect, the new search system is far more usable
* **Group website mirrors** - we have added mirrors of several old scene group websites to the links section
* **Timeline** - A new design and extra content
* **Articles** - The design of the articles section - which you are currently looking at - has been improved to better accommodate the content of the section. We've also added Disqus comments to each article.
* **Contact** - We can now accept attachments (up to 1mb), making it easier to send contributions
* **Glossary** - A new section that includes definitions of commonly-used terms
* **SFVs/Nukes** - SFVs on the previous site were few and far between, and didn't really fit with the goals of the site, so we made a collective decision to omit them from the new site. Nukes were also rarely used and although they will still appear on applicable release pages, they will no longer appear in the table view of releases, allowing us more space for release names.
We have also made a huge number of changes behind the scenes; in fact, we have completely replaced the old system with a new, custom system that better caters to our needs and reduces the amount of manual labour required to add new content.
Of course, there are still a few bugs here and there, and more will most likely surface over the coming weeks. We welcome any feedback/bug reporting, just leave us a comment below, or use the contact page to get in touch.
We hope you enjoy the new MP3Scene, and as always we welcome new contributions, see here for a detailed run-down of what we need.
-The MP3Scene staffSat, 02 Jun 2012 12:39:07 +0100http://www.mp3scene.info/articles/7/new-mp3sceneMP3 Release Standards 1996 to 1999http://www.mp3scene.info/articles/6/mp3-release-standards-1996-to-1999Since the inception of the mp3 scene in 1995/96, packaging methods have changed drastically. Initially groups had their own quality standards/rip methods and it wasn't until late 1998 that 'official' scene rules were established.
This article outlines the packaging methods & standards utilised throughout the history of the scene.
###1996: In The Beginning
The first organised mp3 groups - [CDA](/groups/65/cda), [DAC](/groups/64/dac) & [RNS](/groups/22/rns) - initially packaged mp3's in a similar way to the 0day/app scenes; releasing a single track at a time, split into 1.44MB RAR files which were then individually zipped along with a [FILE_ID.DIZ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FILE_ID.DIZ) to identify the files on [Bulletin Board Systems (BBS's)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system). Directory names were not used, rather each zip file(s) would be uploaded into a single directory on BBS's or [FTP sites](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsite_%28warez%29).
For example, the track "Buddy Holly" by Weezer, released by DAC in 1996 used the filename DAC-BUDH.ZIP and would most likely have included a FILE_ID.DIZ, an NFO file and possibly BBS/FTP site NFOs to indicate which sites the file had passed through previously. For more examples of early releases, see [this list](/files/38/cda-release-list-august-1996/) of the first CDA songs and the [DAC release list](/files/33/dac-master-release-list-19970112/) which includes all tracks from 1996.
Tracks were generally ripped at 128kbit/s (although 112kbit/s wasn't uncommon) using the encoder [L3enc](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L3enc). With 133mhz processors as the norm, ripping was a slow process; taking anywhere from 15-30 mins for a single track. A [DAC "How-To"](/files/42/dac-mp3-mini-how-to-v401/) from 1996 sheds more light on ripping techniques of this era.
###1997
By 1997, storage space and processor power had increased enough to warrant a demand for entire albums. Initially groups used the same packaging methods as before, meaning an album such as Ghostface Killah's "Ironman" ripped by DAC would have 17 individual files, named DAC-GF01, DAC-GF02 and so on.
Quickly, however, the mp3 scene moved towards whole albums and packaging methods had to be adjusted to accommodate this. Groups began creating directories for each album; usually Artist_Name-Album_Name-Group, although no official standards were established until the following year. Each directory would generally contain an mp3 file for each track, an NFO file and occasionally pixel art or site NFO's.
Some examples of directory/file structures of albums released in 1997:
AFX-Analogue_Bubblebath_3-DAC
analogue3_01.mp3
analogue3_02.mp3
analogue3_03.mp3
analogue3_04.mp3
analogue3_05.mp3
analogue3_06.mp3
analogue3_07.mp3
analogue3_08.mp3
analogue3_09.mp3
analogue3_10.mp3
analogue3_11.mp3
analogue3_12.mp3
analogue3_13.mp3
dac-afx-analogue_bubblebath_3.nfo
<br>
Eagle.Eye.Cherry-Desireless.[CCMP3D]-Warlock
01.(Eagle.Eye.Cherry)-Save.Tonight.mp3
02.(Eagle.Eye.Cherry)-Indecision.mp3
03.(Eagle.Eye.Cherry)Comatose.(in.the.arms.of.slumber).mp3
04.(Eagle.Eye.Cherry)-Worried.Eyes.mp3
05.(Eagle.Eye.Cherry)-Rainbow.Wings.mp3
06.(Eagle.Eye.Cherry)-Conversation.mp3
07.(Eagle.Eye.Cherry)-When.Mermaids.Cry.mp3
08.(Eagle.Eye.Cherry)-Shooting.Up.In.Vain.mp3
09.(Eagle.Eye.Cherry)-Permanent.Tears.mp3
10.(Eagle.Eye.Cherry)-Death.Defied.By.Will.mp3
11.(Eagle.Eye.Cherry)-Desireless.mp3
[ccmp3d].nfo
<br>
Most albums were ripped at 128kbit/s, although towards the end of the year 160kbit/s was becoming increasingly popular, and no single piece of encoding software was used by the scene.
###1998
1998 was a significant year for the mp3 scene, seeing many new groups forming, the rise of the 'pre-release' and the beginnings of a formalised ruleset. 128-160kbit were still the most commonly-used bitrates that year, though 192kbit releases would slowly emerge too. [ID3](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ID3) tags had been used in 1997 but by 1998 they were used in practically every scene release.
The first (successful) ruleset for the mp3 scene ([the RIAA rules](/files/29/riaa-release-rules-1998/)) surfaced in December of that year, signed by AMOK, aPC, ATM, RNS and UMA. Of particular note were the following rules:
> 4) Rippers/groups must produce .SFV files for crc'ing every release.
>
> 6) Files and directories must only contain a-z A-Z 0-9 _ - () and
> no other characters. Underscores will be used for spaces, and
> double dots wont be used. i.e ..
>
> 8) Directory names must at minimum include "Artist-Album-GROUPINITIALS"
>
> 9) Filenames must at minimum include "Tracknumber-Songtitle-GROUPINITIALS"
<br>
These rules resulted in mp3 releases becoming increasingly uniform and file/directory naming conventions began to resemble those currently used by the scene. For example:
DMX-Flesh_Of_My_Flesh_Blood_Of_My_Blood-1998-Cesta-aPC
00-dmx-flesh_of_my_flesh_blood_of_my_blood-cesta-apc.nfo
01-dmx-my_niggas_skit-apc-cesta.mp3
02-dmx-bring_your_whole_crew-apc-cesta.mp3
03-dmx-pacman_skit-apc-cesta.mp3
04-dmx-aint_no_way-apc-cesta.mp3
05-dmx-we_dont_give_a_fuck-apc-cesta.mp3
06-dmx-keep_your_shit_the_hardest-apc-cesta.mp3
07-dmx-coming_from_ft._mary_j._blige-apc-cesta.mp3
08-dmx-its_all_good-apc-cesta.mp3
09-dmx-the_omen_ft._marilyn_manson-apc-cesta.mp3
10-dmx-slippin-apc-cesta.mp3
11-dmx-no_love_for_me-apc-cesta.mp3
12-dmx-dogs_for_life-apc-cesta.mp3
13-dmx-blackout_ft._jay-z_and_lox_-apc-cesta.mp3
14-dmx-flesh_of_my_flesh_blood_of_my_blood-apc-cesta.mp3
15-dmx-heat-apc-cesta.mp3
16-dmx-skit-apc-cesta.mp3
17-dmx-skit-apc-cesta.mp3
18-dmx-ready_to_meet_him-apc-cesta.mp3
<br>
MC5-High_Times-ATM
01-MC5-Sister_Anne.ATM.mp3
02-MC5-Baby_Won't_Ya.ATM.mp3
03-MC5-Miss_X.ATM.mp3
04-MC5-Gotta_Keep_Movin.ATM.mp3
05-MC5-Future_Now.ATM.mp3
06-MC5-Poison.ATM.mp3
07-MC5-Over_And_Over.ATM.mp3
08-MC5-Skunk.ATM.mp3
ATM-MC5-High_Times.nfo
<br>
Although both of these arrived before the introduction of the RIAA ruleset, note the use of underscores and other naming conventions commmonly associated with modern-day scene releases. Including the ripper name in the file/directory name (as in the first release above) was a practice primarily employed by aPC from 1998 to 1999, although other groups including HNA, iRS, EGO and occasionally RNS were also known to do so.
###1999
Early 1999 saw the majority of the mp3 scene begin to adopt the RIAA rules introduced the previous year. This meant that the file/directory naming of most new releases resembled modern-day conventions (group initials would be removed from most filenames in 2005). 160kbit releases still appeared, particularly in the earlier half of the year, but for the most part 192kbit was the bitrate of choice. SFV's, NFO's and M3U's were compulsory, and their absence was grounds for nuking on most topsites.
A typical release from 1999 looked like so:
Egghead-Dumb_Songs_For_Smart_People-1999-EGO
00-egghead-dumb_songs_for_smart_people-ego.m3u
00-egghead-dumb_songs_for_smart_people-ego.nfo
00-egghead-dumb_songs_for_smart_people-ego.sfv
01-egghead-shes_coming_back-ego.mp3
02-egghead-not_everything_that_smells_good_tastes_good-ego.mp3
03-egghead-cosmo_and_vogue-ego.mp3
04-egghead-neighborhood_palm_reader-ego.mp3
05-egghead-rookie_year-ego.mp3
06-egghead-first_flight_to_the_moon-ego.mp3
07-egghead-jetpack-ego.mp3
08-egghead-donnas_always_mad_at_me-ego.mp3
09-egghead-data_entry-ego.mp3
10-egghead-jane_airhead-ego.mp3
11-egghead-my_apartment-ego.mp3
12-egghead-books-ego.mp3
13-egghead-breakaway_luge-ego.mp3
14-egghead-hong_kong-ego.mp3
<br>
Variations on the above were not uncommon (RNS switched the order of artist and track number for example) but for the most part this style would continue to be used for many years.Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:15:35 +0100http://www.mp3scene.info/articles/6/mp3-release-standards-1996-to-1999Looking Back - 1997http://www.mp3scene.info/articles/5/looking-back-1997_Article that originally appeared on dmusic.com, written by Chad Hart on Sep 27, 2000. Part in a series that covers 96-99._
1997 was a year shaped by the accomplishments and efforts of the energetic early adopters, who forged a path for those that would soon follow.
MP3 was an IRC-only phenomenon for much of 1996 and 1997 until people started to construct websites dedicated to the format. These early websites described the format, and made the tools needed to create and play the files available to all those that were interested. Many of them also operated a sister FTP site, which housed copyrighted recordings. Many of these early sites, including David Weekly’s, were shut down by an early anti-online piracy campaign by Geffen records (David would later attempt to develop a artist/label backed MP3 site).
Although many of these early sites were stopped, infinitely more seemed to be created in their wake. As David writes in his online book, “There was a real sense of community between those who were using MP3s and maintaining MP3 websites.” Sites such as the Outer Limits, Dimension Music, The Unexpected, Monster Mo's MP3 Site, and “Blex's Page of Good MP3” each provided visitors a unique experience. The “personalities” of these and other websites were truly distinct, and visitors seemed to connect with webmasters in a very special way.
Due to the growing popularity of MP3 sites, many webmasters at this time started to use banner-advertising programs to recoup hosting costs (although many seemed to do it for greed). Unfortunately, many decided to use pornographic advertisements since they usually generated more money for the individual. In response, several MP3 webmasters combined in an effort to discourage the use of pornographic banner advertisements, the result was PureMP3, an effort that is still being undertaken today.
While many websites were created, FTP was still the preferred method of downloading MP3s. Often, websites (like Blex’s) would list connection information to dozens of FTP sites. Many others looked to IRC, where people post their site’s address publicly to a chat room. The interaction that was essential to acquiring a MP3 contributed greatly to the community environment.
Many important strides were made in developing and improving MP3-based audio software in 1997. When one looks at the software available to an MP3er during 1996 and early 1997, it becomes obvious that people needed easier to use and better featured software programs. MP3 and challenge loving amateur coders certainly did not about to pass this opportunity to develop excitingly fresh and very needed software.
Winamp, the Windows based MP3 player created by Justin Frankel, was released during the summer of 1997. Winamp combined useful features with an equally useful and alterative interface, and seemed to strike a chord with users both new to MP3 and those who had been forced to use the crude programs the preceded it. Winamp seemed to make listening to music on a computer an easy and rewarding experience, instead of an awkward and shallow one.
Other programmers focused on improving and developing programs used in the MP3 creation processes. Since both the first digital audio extraction and MP3 encoding programs were command-line driven, several people released “Front Ends”. A front end was a graphical user interface that was tied onto a command-line program, making it easier to use. Fraunhofer’s pricey MP3 encoder was sometimes distributed with these front ends, despite the illegality of such an action.
While many great things within the community were done during 1997, 1998 would be a year of great change for webmasters, artists, and music listeners alike.
(To Be Continued)
The opinions, statements, and comments expressed in this article are the sole opinions of the author and not of DMusic. Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:14:43 +0100http://www.mp3scene.info/articles/5/looking-back-1997MP3 Historyhttp://www.mp3scene.info/articles/4/mp3-history_Article on the history of mp3, written by Christopher Jones on 27 Jul 2000 and originally appeared on Lycos Webmonkey (no longer viewable)_
###Behind the Music: The History of MP3
MP3, an obscure compression format that has the music industry shaking in its gold-studded boots, is surely one of the Web's most unlikely heroes.
MP3 is short for Moving Picture Experts Group, Audio Layer III, and is a compression format that shrinks audio files with only a small sacrifice in sound quality. MP3 files can be compressed at different rates, but the more they are scrunched, the worse the sound quality. A standard MP3 compression is at a 10:1 ratio, and yields a file that is about 4 MB for a three-minute track.
It all started in the mid-1980s, at the Fraunhofer Institut in Erlangen, Germany, which began work on a high quality, low bit-rate audio coding with the help of Dieter Seitzer, a professor at the University of Erlangen. In 1989, Fraunhofer was granted a patent for MP3 in Germany and a few years later it was submitted to the International Standards Organization (ISO), and integrated into the MPEG-1 specification.
Frauenhofer also developed the first MP3 player in the early 1990s, but it turned out to be a pretty underwhelming application. In 1997, a developer at Advanced Multimedia Products named Tomislav Uzelac created the AMP MP3 Playback Engine, which is regarded as the first prime-time MP3 player. Shortly after the AMP engine hit the Net, a couple of university students, Justin Frankel and Dmitry Boldyrev (who more recently created MacAMP), took the Amp engine, added a Windows interface and dubbed it "Winamp." In 1998, when Winamp was offered up as a free music player, the MP3 craze began: Music fiends all over the world started MP3 hubs, offering copyrighted music for free.
Before long, other programmers jumped in to create a whole toolset for MP3 junkies. New encoders, rippers, and players were sprouting up every week, and the movement was growing strong. Search engines made it even easier to find the specific MP3 files people wanted, and portable players like the Rio let them take MP3 tracks on the road.
And then came Napster.
Napster is the killer app that will be undoubtedly remembered more than any other MP3-related software. When Napster hit the Internet in 1999, it allowed anyone with a connection to find and download just about any type of popular music they wanted, in minutes. By connecting users to other users' hard drives, Napster created a virtual community of music junkies that's still growing at an astonishing pace.
However, the Recording Industry Association of America is currently trying to shut Napster down. The RIAA sued Napster, charging it with copyright law violations, and on July 26 won a decision in U.S. District Court that, in effect, orders Napster shut down. The RIAA also kept up the pressure on the political front: Digital music heavyweights recently gathered in Washington, D.C. to testify before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on downloading and file trading. Their lament: All this free downloading is screwing us out of our deserved fees and royalties.
Even if Napster is eventually forced to shut down, MP3 has many other ways to survive and thrive.
###The MP3 Advantage
The reason MP3 took off and became the audio standard on the Web is that the original patent holders made it freely available for anyone to develop a decoder, or player, for it. So the early MP3 innovators hacked around and developed players and other cool software that spread fast and wide. By contrast, several other digital audio formats, which are more efficient or sound better than MP3, are proprietary formats, developed by companies like Lucent, Yamaha, and Microsoft, which have restrictions on how outside developers can employ their technology. These other audio formats may gain wider acceptance in the future, as record companies use them to distribute popular music, but for now MP3 still has the momentum.
Another advantage of MP3 is that there are no security features associated with the files, so millions of them are posted and passed around on the Web every day. The files are small enough to be downloaded easily, or even attached to an email and sent to a friend. It's all this downloading and swapping that has attracted the attention of the RIAA, which represents the major labels and the owners of millions of valuable sound recordings. These labels view MP3 as a huge piracy threat, and the RIAA has tried to shut down several MP3-related businesses. Until the ruling against Napster, it had little success in stemming the tide.
One of the most compelling aspects of MP3 is the impact it will have on our listening habits. MP3 makes it a cinch for people to play DJ and mix and match their favorite songs, bands, or styles of music. Say you want to make a "tape" of all your favorite '80s songs, including those rare Bananarama bootleg recordings. If your MP3s are stored on a computer, all you have to do is search through your music folder by band name or genre and put the songs into a playlist. From there, you can send them on to a CD burner for recording -- imagine how much longer it would take to do all that by hand, searching through your extensive CD collection and popping CDs in and out. And once the mega-MP3 portables are available and affordable, you'll be able to take hundreds of hours of music wherever you go.
Another up-and-coming area for MP3 is webcasting, or "streaming" audio. Unlike downloaded MP3s, streamed MP3 files aren't stored on your hard drive, but broadcast like traditional radio to a receiver (in this case, your MP3 player). RealNetworks has made a business around streamed audio, but uses a proprietary format, RealAudio, to transmit it. Now many content sites, knowing that MP3 is free to broadcast and play, are starting to offer MP3 streams as an alternative to the RealAudio and Microsoft's Windows media streaming formats.
Wired News, for instance, offers Audio Spin, a daily discussion of top news stories. Slashdot serves out Geeks in Space, a program that is just what it sounds like.
These are just some of the reasons that you might start dabbling in MP3. But there are some legal and ethical issues you might want to consider before going hog wild.
###Legal Unease
MP3 itself is not an illegal format, but when people offer up MP3 versions of copyrighted material they are breaking the law, plain and simple. In the last year, examples were made of several people serving out large numbers of copyrighted songs.
So does that mean your door will be beaten down by Uzi-toting Feds if you download Lil' Kim's newest, nastiest track?
Well, no.
The RIAA has said it won't target people downloading songs, but it has no mercy for those posting large numbers of songs on a site for download. This leaves applications like Napster in a grey area. Metallica recently targeted more than 300,000 people who were trading their songs on Napster and had them booted from the service.
Whether or not MP3 and programs like Napster are ultimately good or bad for the music industry is the multibillion-dollar question. MP3 proponents argue that the more music people listen to, the more live shows they will attend and CDs they will buy. MP3 critics counter that free music will kill the industry and the artists who depend on it.
So the answer probably lies somewhere between these extremes, and companies like MP3.com have already learned - albeit the hard way, in court - that compromise is the best solution. So in the future, you can probably expect to get free music, but with more and more strings attached.
If you want to delve deeper into the political and business side of MP3, check out Adam Powell's article.
Still willing to risk it? If so, the easiest way to get started is to go hunting on the Net for some ripe MP3s.
###In Search of MP3s, Searching and File-Trading
There are a bevy of MP3 search engines available on the Net, where you can type in a song title or artist's name and find sites where MP3s are available for download. But be warned: Search engines often lead to dead links, error messages, porn sites, and other such wastes of time.
If you're going to look for songs online, better to stick with Napster, or other file-sharing utilities which provide easier access to the songs you're looking for by searching the hard drives of thousands of other Napster users. The program not only returns all the matches for a particular artist or song, but also tells you the connection speed - cable modem, DSL, T1, etc - of the user on the other end. The faster the connection, the faster you can download a file. A three-minute song might take only one minute to download from a cable modem host, but it could take up to 15 minutes from a 28.8K modem host. So if you're looking for a fast and easy way to find a particular song, Napster is hard to beat.
Some of the other popular file-trading applications include Gnutella, CuteMX, and Spinfrenzy. And for you Mac folks, Macster is a good bet.
Of course, the easiest way to download music is from one of the many MP3 sites, which offer tracks from artists who have agreed to post their music for free. MP3.com was the first site to offer this service on a large scale, but many others have cropped up, offering more discriminating services that give nice descriptions of the bands and their music. Check out Epitonic to see a good example.
If you're in the mood to drop some cash, a few sites sell MP3 files from established bands. Emusic is the biggest of these sites, and has a wide collection of artists to choose from, with albums at $8.99, and single tracks at 99 cents. Emusic also started a subscription service that offers unlimited access to all of EMusic's 125,000 tracks for $19.99 per month.
After you've filled up your hard drive with MP3s, you might want to listen to some of the booty. If you have a recent version of Windows, a media player is built into your system that will suffice. But if you're interested in a more funky, feature-filled MP3 experience, you should download one of the other available MP3 players.
###MP3 Players
Since no licensing fees are required to build an MP3 player, many are available for free. Some of the more popular players include Winamp, Sonique, and MusicMatch. A platform-specific list that includes many other options is available here. Also, Microsoft's Windows Media Player and Real Network's Real Jukebox will play MP3 files in addition to each company's proprietary audio format. In the Macintosh realm, the choices aren't as many, but an extensive list of software is available at Mac digital audio.
The basic function of an MP3 player is to convert your MP3 files back to a standard audio format and send them to your computer's sound card, which outputs them to headphones or speakers. Not all MP3 players, however, are created equal. Although every MP3 player uses the same source code, each player interprets it differently. The upshot is that your MP3 tracks may sound slightly different on each player. So, once you've got an MP3 player up and running, you might want to listen to some music to determine if it's the right player for you. (For more info on specific MP3 players and their features, check out Nate's Nuts and Bolts article.)
And for you movers and shakers, MP3s can also be played on traditional CD decks, boom boxes, and other devices.
###MP3 On the Road
Playing MP3s on a computer is cool and all, but at some point you'll want take these tracks on the road or put them on a home stereo so you can pester the neighbors.
But one of the drawbacks to MP3 files is that you can't play the songs in your car or home stereo because standard CD decks won't recognize MP3s burned on a CD. To play MP3 files from a CD you need a specialized device, such as the Genica MP3/CD Player or the Brujo. But you don't necessarily have to buy one of these to get your MP3s out on the street.
In order to listen to an MP3 file on a normal CD deck - be it portable, car, or home unit - you'll need to convert it into a wave (.wav) file first, and then burn it onto a CD. The easiest way to accomplish this is with an MP3 player such as Winamp or Sonique. In both of these players, it's a fairly painless process to convert MP3s to wave files:
Using Winamp, select some MP3 songs and put them in your playlist. Turn the shuffle and equalizer off. Go to the options/preferences menu (ctrl p) and select plugins/output. Select the Disk Writer Plug-in option and hit configure. Now select a directory where the files will be sent. Close the menu and go back to the player and hit play, and the MP3 files will be converted to .wav files and sent to the target folder. Once you've finished converting the songs to wave, go back to the plugins/output menu and select "waveout" to return the player to its normal mode.
Using Sonique, make sure Shuffle, Loop, and EQ are turned off. Go to Nav mode and click Setup Options. Click the General button at the bottom and then select the Audio tab. In the Select Output box, scroll down to .Wav Writer Plugin. Click Configure and then select an output directory. Right Click to go back to the main menu. Hit play to begin writing the current file(s) to disk. Make sure to go back to the audio tab and select Windows Output when you're done writing to disk.
Once in wave format, these files can be burned on a CD using any CD burning software, and then played in a standard CD player. But since converting MP3 files into wave files essentially reverses the compression process, they're no longer just 4-5 MB files -- they're about 10 times that size.
If you don't want to go through the hassle of converting MP3 files into wave files, you can just record them directly from your soundcard into a cassette or Minidisc recorder. This is very simple, and only requires a one-eighth-inch stereo miniplug cable. Connect one end of the cable to the output on your sound card and the other into the recorder input. Queue up some songs on your computer's MP3 player and record away.
###DIY: Rippers and Encoders
Besides players, there are only two other MP3 applications to worry about: rippers and encoders. A bunch of these MP3 tools are available here. If you are a Mac user, this site may be a better bet.
There are several things to consider when choosing a program: the operating system you use, the size of the application, the features you want, and the cost (though many are free). So let's have a look at each of these applications up close, and then you can determine what to start with.
MP3 Rippers
One of the easiest ways to create MP3s is from your own CD collection. To do this, you'll need to get a hold of some "ripper" software. Here is a site that will point you to rippers for all different operating systems.
A ripper takes the data from a CD and converts it to a wave file, which is uncompressed and interchangeable audio data. In the Mac realm, the generic audio file format is called Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF). Once audio data is in either of these formats, it's easy to create an MP3 file.
When a ripper converts CD tracks into wave files, the resulting data consumes around 40 to 50 MB per song. So unless you have many gigabytes to spare on your hard drive, don't go converting your whole CD collection at once. One of the important variables with CD rippers is the speed of the CD-ROM drive on your computer. Most modern CD-ROMs will do a fine job, and rip at speeds of 8 to 12X. At that pace, an entire CD can be converted to wave files in about 10 minutes.
MP3 Encoders
If you want to take a CD or wave file and turn it into an MP3, the only piece of software you need is an "encoder." These applications take the sound data and compress it at a ratio that determines both its sound quality and size.
Until recently, there were plenty of encoders available on the Internet, but since Fraunhofer started enforcing its patent on MP3, many of the free encoders have disappeared. So all of the current encoding applications require a small fee, around $20, so the companies can pay the licensing fee.
Here is a site that will point you to an encoder that suits your operating system. Some of these encoders come bundled with MP3 players and CD rippers, so if the all-in-one software appeals to you, check out packages like MusicMatch, AudioCatalyst, or RealNetworks' RealJukebox. These programs will rip and encode all at once, so you don't have to worry using two separate programs to make an MP3 file.
Essentially, the MP3 encoders take sound data and strip out some of the frequencies that are in the outer range of what the human ear recognizes. Remember that converting a song to MP3 is a destructive process, so you will lose some sound quality. That said, determining what encoding rate is right for you depends on how much space you have on your computer and what level of sound quality you want.
Most MP3 encoders offer "constant bit-rate encoding," which means that you can choose between several encoding rates and the software will compress the file accordingly. For instance, the standard encoding rate is 128 kilobits per second, or 128 Kbps (you'll notice that 128 or another number appears on most MP3 players as you're playing a track). Here, the bitrate refers to the average number of bits that one second of sound data will require.
For higher quality sound - and bigger files - you can encode songs at 192 Kbps, or even 256 Kbps (which is true CD quality). If you have very limited space to store your MP3 files, you might even go with 96 Kbps, but the sound quality can be pretty lame at that setting.
Better yet, most MP3 encoders offer "variable bit rate encoding" which is a good way to maximize sound quality and file size simultaneously. In variable bit-rate (VBR) encoding, the software analyzes the data and determines the optimal bit rate for encoding each frame of sound. For instance, cymbals are troublesome for MP3 because they represent "white noise," or a combination of many different frequencies of sounds. By contrast, a bass drum beat has a fairly straightforward frequency that can be easily represented in MP3. So when a song is encoded using VBR, the program analyzes the data and works within a range -- say, 128 Kbps and 192 Kbps -- to find the optimal encoding rate for each frame of sound. The end result is an MP3 file that is optimized for both size and sound quality.
To get a sense of how the encoding rate affects sound quality, you could take the same wave file and encode it at 128 Kbps, 160 Kbps, 192 Kbps, and then VBR. When you're finished, listen to each of the files and decide which encoding rate suits you. But, as a rule, if you're working with something simple like a voice recording, there is no need to go much beyond 24 Kbps because the file will sound fine at that rate and you're saving lots of space on the hard drive. This is especially important to keep in mind if you plan to stream any of your MP3s. The smaller the file, the easier and faster it is for an audience to stream it off a website.
Considering how easy it is face the music with MP3, odds are it'll be around for a long time to come.
###The Future of MP3
It's always hard to say how long any given technology will stick around, but given MP3's company -- all the applications and infrastructure -- MP3 is gonna be around for a while. Better compression technologies have existed for some time now, but MP3's success is due to the relatively open nature of the format.
It's a situation, however, that may change. Next year, Germany's Fraunhofer-Gesellshaft Institute (which created the MP3 codec) will demand licensing fees on every stream on the Web that carries an MP3 file. Notified of this upcoming fee, MP3 broadcasters went into a tizzy and launched an open-source MP3 project called the Ogg Vorbis format. (An interview with the Vorbis founders is available at Wired News.) The group is trying to develop "a completely open, patent-free, professional audio encoding and streaming technology with all the benefits of Open Source."
Like MP3, the Vorbis format will determine which parts of a sound file are not audible and drop that from the bit stream as it's encoding. Unlike MP3, it will be a completely open format which people can contribute to, just as with other successful open-source projects like the Apache Web server and Icecast streaming server. The Vorbis group currently has a beta version of the format which anyone can tinker with and offer changes.
Meanwhile, public awareness and use of the MP3 format continues to grow, and it has become an grassroots industry on the Web with no end in sight, especially since it's just so easy. All it takes is a little computer time to get all your MP3 programs in order, and the payoff is mo' music, mo' music, mo' music.Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:13:57 +0100http://www.mp3scene.info/articles/4/mp3-historyA Brief Summary of the MP3 Scenehttp://www.mp3scene.info/articles/3/brief-summary-mp3-scene_This article gives a brief summary of the history and origins of the mp3 scene. Some of the below adapted from an article written by Netfrack of CDA_
Prior to MP3, a music warez scene would have been prohibitive due to the filesizes of uncompressed WAVs coupled with the slow connection speeds at the time. The MP3 codec had been in development for several years and the first (command line) mp3 encoder, [L3enc](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L3enc), was released in 1993, with the first MP3 software player, [WinPlay3](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WinPlay3), arriving in 1995. An article written by John C. Dvorak for PC Magazine in 1995 brought attention to the new mp3 format, and single tracks - ripped at 112kbit - began appearing across the web.
A college student using the alias 'NetFrack' discovered and experimented with the encoder and formed [Compress Da' Audio (CDA)](/groups/65/cda/) in 1996 with the intention of releasing popular music to the warez scene in the MP3 format. Although CDA is often credited as the first mp3 group, various articles suggest that groups existed as early as 95, one being Digital Music Audio (DMA). However, CDA were likely the first group to release a track using traditional warez distribution systems; topsites and BBS systems. Their [first release](http://www.mp3scene.info/files/view/cda-release-list-august-1996/) was Until it Sleeps by Metallica, ripped by NetFraCk himself on August 10th 1996.
For a while CDA was able to "monopolize" the newly-created scene as they were the only individuals with the information to perform the conversion of CD's to MP3. When individuals from CDA shared the information publicly, two competing groups were formed: [Digital Audio Crew (DAC)](/groups/64/dac/) and [Rabid Neurosis (RNS)](/groups/22/rns/), with others following not long after.
The mp3 scene in the beginning was very basic. Windows 95 was just released, brand new computers were shipping (at maximum) 133mhz Pentiums, and 16-32 MBs of RAM. Dial-up was the internet connection of choice with 28.8 having debuted not too long before. Your hard drive (if you were lucky) was 2GB. There were no CD burners nor means of mass storage unless you were wealthy.
The three main groups then comprised of roughly ten to twenty individuals utilizing three [FTP sites](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsite_(warez)) as a means of distribution. These sites had private and public logins. Private logins for the group members so they could gain access whenever they needed and public access for everyone to be able to download the music. These sites had a massive storage capacity of possibly 10gb. Connections at a blazing fast t1 (1.45mbps).
MP3's were originally released much like warez: [single](/files/38/cda-release-list-august-1996/) [tracks](/files/33/dac-master-release-list-19970112/), packaged using .rar compression and re-packaged again into 1.44MB zip files with a .nfo and possibly a .jpg art file. Initially the majority of releases were of classic or recently-released tracks. There was no "0-day" scene (ie. albums ripped before or on the day of public release), though this would develop around 1998. Releases were then uploaded into directories onto the FTP sites and distributed from end-user to end-user. Most groups also ran public [IRC channels](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat) containing [XDCC offer bots](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XDCC), which allowed end-users to download their releases fairly easily. These channels were kept public for the majority of the 1990's, though the majority of groups privatised them at the turn of the millennium.
There was no comradery amongst the early mp3 groups, in fact there was a good bit of malice between them. Groups were frequently involved in disputes and often resorted to 'attacks' on competing groups' IRC channels or FTP sites. This was not a phase either; competition between leading groups would continue for years to come, particularly with the development of the 0-day scene.
Initially mp3's had no attached meta data (tags) containing the artist, song title, album title, etc. In 1996 an individual using the nickname NamkraD, devised the [ID3](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ID3) format (now referred to as ID3v1); essentially a 128 byte suffix with a uniform structure, allowing artist name, track name, album name, and genre, as well as an additional comment (often used by groups to promote themselves). Earlier that year, a similar principle had been utilised for identifying 8-bit Nintendo ROMs, details of which were released by the group [Damaged Cybernetics](http://patpend.net/articles/ar/damaged.html), led by MindRape who was also a leader of the mp3 group DAC. NamkraD (also a member of DAC & Damaged Cybernetics) took this principle and applied it to the mp3 format, thus creating ID3v1.
ID3 quickly became the de facto standard for storing meta data within mp3s, used not only by warez groups but by non-sceners too. In 1997 Michael Mutschler updated the format, allowing the inclusion of tracknumbers, and in 1998 a more complex format - [ID3v2](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ID3#ID3v2) - was released.
Initially duplicate releases (dupes) - tracks/albums already ripped by another group - were common since there was no easily-accessible database of previous releases. Duplicate releases would be ['nuked'](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuke_%28warez%29) on FTP sites; potentially damaging a groups' reputation. Many groups maintained lists of their rips, made accessible to other groups to allow checking (dupechecking) before ripping a track/album. This process would evolve into a far more advanced system in later years; a web-based dupechecking system existed in different incarnations from the late 90's onwards allowing users to easily check a database of past releases.
By 1997, connection speeds and storage capacity had increased marginally, resulting in many groups focusing on whole albums rather than individual tracks. Several new groups had formed in the meantime, most notably [Apocalypse Production Crew (aPC)](/groups/1/apc/) and [Addicted to Music (ATM)](/groups/12/atm/). Albums were generally ripped with bitrates of 112 or 128kbit, meaning a typical album would total around 30-40mb, though 160kbit albums would appear toward the end of 1997 and occasionally 192kbit the following year.Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:12:37 +0100http://www.mp3scene.info/articles/3/brief-summary-mp3-sceneHistory of MP3 by GenocideXhttp://www.mp3scene.info/articles/2/history-of-mp3-by-genocidex_This 5 part article was first published in 1998, and appears below incomplete; parts 3, 4 & 5 are missing. It originally appeared on dmusic.com though no longer exists on their servers. Written by GenocideX, a former [DMA](/groups/81/dma) member_
(Special Thanks: Blex [for the timeline idea], Stewart Addison [for her major clarification], Viper or Vyper.. For the first mp3 search)
(Thank You for this Article: Aqua_61 of #CDA for group info)
From humble beginnings with a program known as DA2WAV, the Mpeg-3 audio scene has grown to unlimited proportions and to the extent of the entire world through the use of the Internet.
Necessity is the mother of invention. Jim McLaughlin needed a program that could put the Digital Audio frames of an audio cd onto his hard drive. Through this necessity, he was able to come up with the now famous program CDDA (originally called DA2WAV, but not used for long as someone else had originally claimed that name, something that has yet to be proven today). With the creation of CDDA, Digital frames could finally be read off an audio cd. However, with this adventation, file sizes were still great. Yet, the program L3Encode by Fraunhofer Institut in Denmark was already fully capable of compressing large wave files into smaller, more manageable files without any recognizable loss in quality. In fact, Fraunhofer's L3Encode was already in full swing as an alternative to previous compression techniques over live feeds. For instance, according to Fraunhofer's page (http://www.iis.fhg.de/), the compression codec of mp3 (MPEG-3) was used at the Winter Olympics in Albertville for many television and radio broadcasts over live feeds. With the new technologies, the MP3 scene was born.
Following the creation of CDDA and L3encode, CD tracks could not only be ripped and compressed, but also transferred. To utilize these tools, the first MP3 audio groups were created. Here is where the MP3 scene theories will differ. As one of the first people in the groups: DMA and CDA, I know which was the absolutely first group. However, many opinions within the scene will differ. DMA, Digital Music Audio (now defunct), was the very first MPEG-3 Audio group. Existing from approximately January 1995-Summer 1995, DMA was the first group to actually rip tracks off an audio CD and make them available via an FTP site. How do I have such knowledge? I was one of the first people to do so with Toad The Wet Sprocket's "All I Want". Despite being the first MP3 group, DMA was very limited and never officially opened its' doors to an MP3 scene. This is where CDA comes into play.
Public announcement breeds growth. When CDA released the first publically, group-released mp3's, it bred many other groups. Netfrack, the original leader of CDA, ran the group well, and in time, such highly regarded groups to the liking of Rabid Neurosis (RNS) and Digital Audio Crew (DAC) began to see the light of day. With the many different groups that came out of the MP3 scene, there were many different specializations. Rabid Neurosis, for example, was known mainly for releasing the rare/uncommon, yet quality rips, whereas DAC and CDA would release more "mainstream" material.
In time, FTP sites would spring up, and FTP searches would as well. However, MP3's were about to find their first challengers with the first legal battles being fought ...Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:09:32 +0100http://www.mp3scene.info/articles/2/history-of-mp3-by-genocidex